First of all, XRover did it first, so he deserves the credit for this one.
I did it myself too with some helpful insight from him, and I took a few pictures during the process that I thought I'd share.
Remove the plug from the housing by releasing the tabs and giving a gentle pull. ?Remove the housing from the bracket by giving a quarter turn twist. ?Clear wiring from behind the bumper to the left (driver's side) of the license plate.
Using a 2" Bi-Metal hole saw, cut a hole to the left of the license plate.
Trace the bracket outline on a small piece of cardboard. ?This will be used as a template for notching the cladding. ?You needn't bother tracing the little square for the locking tab like I did. ?It is required for a locking tooth in the factory bracket. ?You may need to trim this piece off the housing for this mod (it's a very tight fit).
Carefully affix the template in the exact orientation as the bracket. ?The picture shown here isn't quite correct... the template should have been rotated slightly more counter-clockwise as you'll see in the final picture of this series.
Mark the notches and carefully cut the cladding. ?I don't recommend using a utility knife, as I did. ?Use a Dremel or something similar instead. ?As you can see from the marks, the knife slipped a few times. ?Once the notches are cut, use a utility knife to bevel the inside edges as shown in the picture below. ?This will make it much easier to install the housing and twist it into place.
Once you install the housing, give it a quarter twist to wedge the flange in between the steel bumper and cladding. ?As XRover pointed out in his original post, it is a very,very tight fit (I tried to twist mine back slightly for better vertical alignment, but it just won't budge).
Here's a view from the backside, once everything is reconnected.
Next, remove the old bracket. ?I opted to use a cut-off tool, hacksaw and file. ?I believe XRover and Chief had there's removed via cutting torch.
All that's left now is to seal the edges with black RTV and buff out the scratches.
Thanks again to XRover for the idea and being the first guy with kahunas big enough to drill a 2" hole in his bumper. ?
I did it myself too with some helpful insight from him, and I took a few pictures during the process that I thought I'd share.
Remove the plug from the housing by releasing the tabs and giving a gentle pull. ?Remove the housing from the bracket by giving a quarter turn twist. ?Clear wiring from behind the bumper to the left (driver's side) of the license plate.
Using a 2" Bi-Metal hole saw, cut a hole to the left of the license plate.
Trace the bracket outline on a small piece of cardboard. ?This will be used as a template for notching the cladding. ?You needn't bother tracing the little square for the locking tab like I did. ?It is required for a locking tooth in the factory bracket. ?You may need to trim this piece off the housing for this mod (it's a very tight fit).
Carefully affix the template in the exact orientation as the bracket. ?The picture shown here isn't quite correct... the template should have been rotated slightly more counter-clockwise as you'll see in the final picture of this series.
Mark the notches and carefully cut the cladding. ?I don't recommend using a utility knife, as I did. ?Use a Dremel or something similar instead. ?As you can see from the marks, the knife slipped a few times. ?Once the notches are cut, use a utility knife to bevel the inside edges as shown in the picture below. ?This will make it much easier to install the housing and twist it into place.
Once you install the housing, give it a quarter twist to wedge the flange in between the steel bumper and cladding. ?As XRover pointed out in his original post, it is a very,very tight fit (I tried to twist mine back slightly for better vertical alignment, but it just won't budge).
Here's a view from the backside, once everything is reconnected.
Next, remove the old bracket. ?I opted to use a cut-off tool, hacksaw and file. ?I believe XRover and Chief had there's removed via cutting torch.
All that's left now is to seal the edges with black RTV and buff out the scratches.
Thanks again to XRover for the idea and being the first guy with kahunas big enough to drill a 2" hole in his bumper. ?